This trailer is miles away from it's original design, and yet the lines are still clearly visible. The iconic shape, double axles, tight proportions are in plain sight. Where there were two stall doors on the back, there is now a single door with a porthole window recycled from a streetlight of days gone by. The insulated walls are covered with a sunburst painted literally with a blowtorch that wraps around onto the back of the cabin. The original steel fenders are covered asymmetrically, with three recycled boards on the left side and two on the right with tear-drop accent lights on the leading edge of each board. Galvanized skirting wraps around the front stopping at the original tending door.  A stainless steel truck exhaust exits the cabin off center to handle the woodstove.  On each side, polished steel panels cover the original windows but keep the "eyes" effect I loved from the beginning.  She's a legal trailer so the lights work when being towed. 

Inside it's split between the stove part and the beautiful people part.  Up front at the stove, it's all steel. The floor includes the original stall metal work, showing the rust of farm life. The insulated walls are corrugated steel panels to hug the curve around the front, difuse reflection and . The insulated ceiling  was tricky but yielded individually hand-cut slices of steel placed one by one to match the compound curve ,then polished just enough to shine.  The original door is trimmed with steel and aluminum and can still open from the outside. It's purpousfully not sealed so the air that the woodstove needs can be drawn in up front rather than being pulled through the rest of the cabin. The prototype stove has been replaced with a new Maine made, custom stove that's just the right size and has a top built to hold sauna stones. It doesn't overheat the space like the prototype stove and has a much steadier burn.   Next to the stove is a place to put wood, especially if it needs to dry out. The center pillar was left in place and is covered with cedar on the people side. 

The people part starts with an insulated non-slip floor supporting two cedar benches. One is longer to lie out on and one is shorter, allowing the tending of the fire.  The wood needed for the current session fits in a specific spot under the longer bench, just where you need it.  Back by the door is a seal-able passage through the floor where an extension cord can pass. From there, a power strip awaits for phones, speakers, lights, etc..  It's also the farthest from the fire and makes a good spot to keep a water bottle cool.  A little bluetooth speaker works great in this space.  Currently a single strip of white holiday lights passes from there, up the chase in the wall and along the channel at the top of the wall, spilling out light at the floor and ceiling.  The walls are cedar with a pine ceiling including the racing stripe panel running the length of the cabin.  Inside the door is a carved Maple handle to open and close the door without burning yourself.   A vent in the back door can let in fresh air if needed.  The door is spring loaded so entering and exiting have a minimal effect on cabin temperature. A timer and thermometer/ hygrometer round out the accouterments.  We're still experimenting with the best water bucket/ ladle set up . 

This sauna takes about 30 minutes to get warm and a bit more to get hot, but because it's a wood stove, you'll feel the heat right away.  In our experience, we like to give it one good 20 minute burn to get the cabin warm. This will have you up over 100 degrees, even in winter, but the edges can still feel cool. After the second burn it should be toasty all over.  It's worth noting that the front section made of steel is way too hot to touch so keep all hands and feet inside the people section.  If small kids or folks unaccustomed to wood stoves are involved, keep an eye on em.   It's easy to burn yourself on hot steel. 

We've had four people in here many times. It's hot and cozy. Personally, I like two because there will be a temperature difference between the two ends of the cabin especially when people come and go and with two, you can find the Goldilocks spot.  With four, it usually works out that the folks who like major heat head toward the front.  There is no cold spot, just hot and hotter.  

Wood stoves reflect the fuel you feed them so if your wood is green, wet or frozen, let it dry out before you use it. We recommend small pieces of dry hardwood to give you a consistent performance. Once we got the hang of it, the stove varied very little but as with any new stove, it can take a bit to learn. Again, if folks are new to using a woodstove, they will need to experiment. If you are used to them, this is a sweet little stove you will quickly master.  

Another great use of this is as a warming hut. Just keeping a warm space to go to, or hang out in, is such a winter treat.  Just keep the stove low and  take the chill off. That's what I've been doing as I finish it out. It's peaceful in there. 

"Can I drive it to different places and use it anywhere?"  Sure!  This is the first question I get and the answer is yes, this beautiful art piece is also a legally towable trailer. And it did transport two full grown cows just before I got it in 2021. In my restoration I replaced two of the wheel bearings and repacked the other two so that part is fine. It doesn't have brakes anymore but it's only got a fraction of the weight it would have had with cows in it.  A small truck can tow it. 

In the summer, you may use it less. If so, just unplug your extension cord and cap the inlet to keep critters out. The trailer has plenty of air holes since it was built initially as a piece of farm equipment that could not be sealed. This works well in this case for a wood fired sauna and to keep it acclimated when not in use. While it won't leak now,  it can get water inside during a Noreaster, just like most houses.  And as such, it's been built out so the water can also dry out.  Did you ever wonder why barns last so long? It's because they can dry out. That's the key. This didn't last 50 years with open windows because it stayed dry. It lasted 50 years without windows because it dried out.  In this redesign, it still can. 

This huge piece of steel can rust. In fact, I'll guarantee that it will. So just like a boat, it'll need to be touched up. I've got the paint codes to match the colors, or you can just let it go.  It's probably not going to rust enough to compromise it, beyond cosmetically,  in our lifetimes.  It won't last forever, but it's off to a good second start.  

Take a look at it's restoration to see what it was and how we set about preserving it going forward. 

Shorty started as my muse. I bought this trailer on a whim because I wanted to be inspired by a shape without a plan.  Everyday I walked past, I had different ideas. While those ideas percolated I also started to take it apart and more ideas formed while the rotted metal and wood came off and the true solid parts of Shorty revealed themselves. It took a long time for her to tell me what she would become. 

This is the absolute slowest way one can do a project. No deadline, no direction and no client. 

At least conceptually, it was open to become anything. I would never work with a client this way. It’s a horrible business move. But this wasn’t a business move in the traditional sense. It was a chance to give myself a blank canvas and work as an artist. 

Every stage of restoration held a different idea:  motorcycle trailer, work trailer, greenhouse, travel trailer, spare bedroom, study spot.  And then each one of those took me on a trip down a rabbit hole of its own.  More proof that I had made the right choice. Eventually I saw her as the Art Sauna she is now.

Having done restoration and new construction carpentry for many years, this was the first time I’d started a project without a client. I was the client. In fact I still am. I’m not going to give that role up until she belongs to someone else. Only then will I know who I built it for. In the meantime, I get to play

Shorty was largely inspired by three elements; my background as a mechanic, a trip to see The Race Of Gentlemen (T.R.O.G.) and my personal experience with aging.

I've had a love for mechanical things since a young age. Taking things apart to understand them and putting them back together as I see fit has been with me my whole life. This project is an extension of that quest.  

 T.R.O.G .is a nostalgic race of cars and motorcycles from the 1930’s and 40’s, raced at low tide on the beach in Wildwood, NJ.  

I was inspired by T.R.O.G..  I took a lot of pictures of fenders and rust, wear and simplicity. These old ideas are no longer acceptable yet proved so serviceable as well as in need of service, that we no longer use them.  If we look we can see the beauty that is absolutely in these machines; in their math and effectiveness and their ability to show up. There are simple lessons here. Lessons that we don't see much these days. We don't see things that are analog very often and yet humans are analog which is why these old relics feel good.  The math works with humans.   

It also hasn't escaped me that I'm about as old as Shorty.  As a carpenter making a living with my body, I literally feel it daily.  At T.R.O.G. I saw potential versions of myself . In this group of preservationists, age is more celebrated and less hidden.  A lot of the guys fixing these cars are old and a lot of the young guys fixing these cars look old.  The vehicles are old, dented and rusted and the owners are seemingly too stubborn to let this statement go. It's a marriage that's not dying. Not without a fight anyway. Somehow it seems an important factor in our consideration of cultural evolution. It's also a way to outwardly view the aging process, as told in flesh and steel.  So too in Shorty.  

And finally, I saw that this project could  not just celebrate age but also comfort it.  She is gloriously old technology.  Cold steel and rough burned wood on the outside.  But she catches the eye and imagination.  Inside, she is warm and comforting. Soothing the bones and muscles. Silent but for crackling wood. Food for the old soul. 

The rust left holes but what remained, remained unyielding.

Horses pee in their trailers. The back doors are open at the top and the thick wood plank floor drains out the bottom. The rain rinses and the hay and wind dry and it works for a long time that way. Nothing about the original build of this machine was done for weight savings or to keep weather out.  It was a simple heavy steel farm tool. Function driven form with a job to do. It was built to last but after 50+ years, it was tired.  I could relate. 

On it's drive home, I started with a car-wash to separate the moss from the paint and steel. Turns out she had been a few different colors over the years.  Then came the steady removal of  wood and rusty steel.  The floor was removed and burned. What was left of the plywood walls was hauled off along with the rusted sheet metal that formed the walls. I was left with a chassis, arched steel roof and front including the door and two wheel sets.  This is more or less what I expected to find.  

Cut and grind, weld and prime. And wait.  The restoration process was inherently organic. I fixed what I found as I found it. The questionable pieces that might have value later were saved until a final plan was realized.  Through it, the rabbit holes of possibilities left me  standing there staring at it, imagining what it could become, taking that idea to completion, then moving on to another. The ideas most compatible with the elements on hand coupled with the appropriate inspiration stayed in the running while the others were ruled out.  Work trailer? No. Greenhouse? No. Etc..  Sauna? Maybe...

Whatever it was, I wanted it to roll. So I refreshed the bearing assemblies on one axle and repacked the other. Realizing that I didn't entirely trust the frame repair that was made decades ago, I removed the brakes. It was still solid but I ruled out this being a daily driver on my watch.  With that in mind,  brakes were unnecessary.  Whatever it would become, it would roll, but not far. It tows really well though and a full size truck pulls it easily. 

Eventually, it had a new floor and the Sauna vision had gelled. The walls were now missing and so I sorted out how I wanted to insulate it and reconstruct it.  Everything metal was ground, primed and painted. Patches welded in. Original door cut out and a new back door frame fabricated out of steel.  The front door was left original and still opened and closed as originally intended.  Keeping the weather mostly out meant integrating water management techniques that could protect the insulation and wood inside yet breath and handle the most extreme temperature variations. A structure that goes from frozen solid to 150+ degrees and back is not built like a regular house. New walls became thicker with a layer of cedar, plywood, insulation and outer layer of torched Hemlock built into the sunrise. It seemed only fitting that this Phoenix story have a sunrise motif. Briefly her name was Phoenix but my working name of Shorty stuck the most. 

All the old wiring was removed and a new harness installed to drive the new lighting ideas.  Besides the one on the roof, it got wired for fender and high rear marker lights.  To light the interior, I built long channels inside up just below the curve of the roof and a hole in the floor near the back door to run an extension cord. Currently a single strand of old school incandescent holiday lights does the trick , tucked into one channel. This way the new user can plug in whatever they like.  Other lights, speaker, etc.  I used it not as a sauna but just as a warm quiet space many times during the reconstruction, either with a low fire or an electric space heater. She's got options. 

The fenders are thick steel but I pictured a rugged top to them. Recycled maple, placed asymmetrically on each fender did the trick. I wanted it to stay rugged, true to it's heritage. Function driven form.  But then it was clear that it needed lights there too, for effect.  The left side got two, the right got three. 

The steel work in the front ceiling was the most challenging for me. A carpenter by practice, my steel working was in for some exercise to handle the temperature extremes and insulation and compound curves. I really loved that section and in fact it's a big part of what drew me to the trailer in the first place. So piece by piece, I cut and fitted steel in to follow the curves. Polished in place, I couldn't be happier with the result.  

We ran it several times with the first stove but the stove was cheap and the heat regulation was not up to par. It got too hot and wouldn't stabilize it's temperature.  It worked but not as I had envisioned, so we moved on to the current stove, made right here in Maine by Hemlock Fabrication. This stove is very well behaved and has what I need to hold the hot rocks on the top.  To complement the stove, we upgraded the exhaust to all stainless steel and it looks and works great. 

In it's final finishing phases it got the benches installed and the trim work put in.  A vent in the door, new handle that doesn't get too hot to touch, lots of bits and pieces to cover sharp edges and potentially hot spots. 

It was finished in December 2023, in time for the holidays and winter.  It'll be hard to see it go because we've really enjoyed using it, but it's time to move on to the next build.  

The next build... A rolling greenhouse, tiny office? What will we do next? If you have a request, let's talk. 

Sauna Features 

Outside:

• Approx 50 yr old trailer with full restoration completed in 2023. 

• Fully insulated on all sides including floor. 

• Original steel outer shell

• Serviced axles (no brakes) and recent tires

• Wired as a legal trailer. (running lights, turn signals, brake lights)

• Tows well

• Probably weighs approx. 1500 lbs

• Stainless steel exhaust system

• Rain/ bird proof cap on exhaust

• Custom convex rear window

• Rear air intake

• New wood starburst panels were literally burned gray for effect

• Hydrogap home wrap installed behind panels for weather proofing. 

• Custom built door. 

Inside: 

• Custom insulated steel ceiling over stove

• Custom stove built in 2022

• Retro steel wood holder next to stove

• Floor under stove is reclaimed steel from the original back doors. 

• More wood storage under benches on both sides. 

• New floor with non-slip, fire proof surface under seating area

• New cedar walls and benches. 

• Upper shelf for lighting

• Access port in floor to accept 110 v extension cord

• 15 minute sand timer

• Thermometer and Hygrometer

• Quick heat up time: 30 minutes from frozen to 130 degrees F

• We’ve had it at 175 degrees F for extended periods. It can go higher.